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This Week in History | 2/23/2020 – 2/29/2020

23 February 1778– Baron Von Steuben joins the American Revolutionary Army at Valley Forge. He is remembered as one of the fathers of the Continental Army and his work, Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States, which would serve as the United Staes drill manual until the War of 1812.  

23 February 1836– The Battle of the Alamo. This 13 day siege during the Texan Revolution lasted till 6 March 1836. Around 1,800 Mexican Soliders would face only 187 Texians.( Texian was the name for the residents of Mexican Texas) The Texians holding the Alamo eventually would all be massacred, with the few surviving Texian combatants being immediately executed. Actions taken by Mexican General Santa Anna during the battle did not deter the Texian revolutionaries. When news reached far and wide of the battle the army of the new Texan Republic swelled with a renewed vigor for independence.

25 February 1836– Samuel Colt patents his first revolving cylinder firearm, the Colt Patterson. Though financially a failure, the design would revolutionize firearms design. Aggressive fighting against patent infringements would give Colt a domestic monopoly on firearms design over the years. Improvements on the design would lead to the Colt Walker, later known as the Colt Dragoon, which would rocket Colt into a leader in American firearms manufacture and design. 

24 February 1917– The British pass the Zimmermann Note to the USA. The note was a secret German communication with Mexico to form an alliance in the case the US joined WW1 against Germany. Germany offered Mexico the recovery of Texas, Arizona and New Mexico in return for joining them. News of the note inflamed tensions between the US and Mexico and would push the US further towards war against Germany.

24 February 1991– After months of massive bombings, special operations attacks, small battles and limited incursions in to Iraq, the ground invasion of Iraq began during Desert Storm. The ground invasion, known as Operation Desert Saber, included a multinational force and would sweep through Iraq with incredible speed. Only 100 hours after the invasion began President Bush would declare a ceasefire, ending the ground war and declaring Kuwait liberated.

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